These photos of a baby elephant may look cute and heartwarming. But these photos also reveal the harsh reality of the cruel life these poor animals have to live with. Thailand is known for its tropical beaches, iconic temples, and ancient ruins. But one of the country’s major tourism attractions is its elephant entertainment industry. Tourists from around the world would pay a lot to ride elephants or watch these animals perform tricks. The country’s tourism is indeed booming thanks to these amusing animals. But what tourists don’t see is how these unfortunate animals are inhumanely treated when the show is over.
Thailand has more than 4,000 elephants held captive and used for tourism. Most of these animals live in camps where they are exposed to abusive training methods to perform tricks. Baby elephants are taken away from their mothers and are forced to live in severely cruel conditions. Save Elephant Foundation (SEF), a Thai non-profit organization, aims to rescue and protect Asian elephants from these inhumane camps. When they visited a riding camp in Chiang Mai, they saw a baby elephant and her mother confined in a small concrete pen, both tied up in chains looking skinny and starving.
Baby Elephant And Mom Rescued From A Riding Camp
The foundation found out that the 4-month-old baby elephant was in poor health and needed urgent intervention. So, they negotiated for the animals’ immediate release to the nature park where they can freely live and receive appropriate care. On August 11, 2021, their request was granted and the rescuers immediately returned to the camp to rescue the two animals.
The original plan was to transport them by truck to Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand. However, the mother and baby elephant refused to get into the truck. After all the abuses they’ve experienced from humans in the camp, we can only understand their distrustful behavior.
Baby Chaba Enjoying Her First-Ever Bath
The nature park is a two-hour walk from the riding camp. So, the rescue team decided to let the elephants walk to the destination. Upon arriving at the nature park, they were greeted with a cake to celebrate their arrival. After enjoying their welcome treat and getting enough rest, the baby elephant which was named Chaba got her first-ever bath. And you can see from the photo how much she loved it.
“Baby Chaba loves her little pool,” wrote SEF on Facebook. “She loves playing with the water and splashing around. Mom walks away while she is playing and gets a moment to relax. She is growing confident and learning so much.”
The Rescued Baby Elephant And Her Mom Happily Playing In The Sand
Baby Chaba and her mom BunMa will be living in the nature park where they can live in freedom and feel the love of their caretakers. SEF assures everyone that baby Chaba is growing in good health as she and her mom are enjoying life together with other elephants in the sanctuary.
Baby Chaba Enjoying The Company Of The Largest Female Elephant In The Sanctuary
Mom BunMa And Daughter Chaba With Their Caretaker
Source: Facebook